Tencent (HKSE: 0700) will take China’s second largest search engine Sogou (NYSE: SOGO) private and merge it with 3 wholly-owned subsidiaries, according to a release by Sogou on Tuesday.
Once the merger will be effective, outstanding Class A ordinary shares of Sogou, including its American depositary shares (ADSs), will be cancelled in exchange for USD 9 in cash per share, representing a premium of approximately 56.5% to the closing price of the NYSE-listed ADS on July 24, the last trading day prior to the “going-private” proposal from Tencent.
Sogou said that the merger, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, will result in a delisting of the company which will become a privately–held and wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent.
Read this: Why is Tencent making a move to buy search engine Sogou?
Sogou is the latest among several Chinese companies retreating from the US capital markets amid ongoing tensions between the countries and tighter rules and scrutiny from US regulators.
On Monday, internet portal Sina (NASDAQ: SINA), owner of microblogging service Weibo, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement for a delisting from Nasdaq. China’s largest online classifieds platform 58.com (NYSE: WUBA) announced in June that a consortium of investors will acquire the remaining shares for USD 8.7 billion and delist it.